


An Addition Makes Four

by hogwartslivy



Series: If James and Lily Had Lived. [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, If James and Lily had lived, James Potter & Lily Evans Potter Live, Second Child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:27:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26873683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hogwartslivy/pseuds/hogwartslivy
Summary: Since he’d been gone, Lily had three visits to St Mungo’s, taken six different muggle pregnancy tests and pulled a box of maternity clothes from storage. Three months, she had decided, was too long for her husband to be away.If James and Lily Had Lived; Harry is 5.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Series: If James and Lily Had Lived. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1945333
Comments: 1
Kudos: 58





	An Addition Makes Four

James had been gone just over three months now. Since he’d been gone, Harry had grown half an inch and Lily had replaced most of his wardrobe, his hair had begun to stick up in all directions and he had discovered his love for chocolate frogs; something she blames Remus for. Since he’d been gone, Lily had three visits to St Mungo’s, taken six different muggle pregnancy tests and pulled a box of maternity clothes from storage. Three months, she had decided, was too long for her husband to be away. 

Straight after school James had been inducted into the Auror program, Sirius tagging along with him for the ride. Lily had dabbled, first at Mungo’s training as a healer, then assisting for Slughorn, with a bit of side work at the Daily Prophet from time to time. She had floated between opportunities, waiting for something to stick, but then she had fallen pregnant. It hadn’t been planned, the ring barely on her finger long enough to leave a tan line, but none the less Harry had come along, and Lily had fallen more in love then she believed possible. So, she stayed home. She had never imagined being a stay at home mother, to not pursue a career, but James had placed Harry into her arms for the first time and she was attached. She still did the casual fill in for Slughorn at Hogwarts, leaving Harry with Remus or Peter for the day, but nothing permanent. 

Harry was looking more and more like her husband every day; she could see it his face, his hair, his walk. James was missing it. Harry and Lily walked around the garden boundaries, Harry ducking in and out of the bushes giggling as a few of the gnomes stuck their heads out after him. The sun was setting over the house and grounds. The leaves of the ground had started to crunch under their feet. Autumn was well and truly on its way. 

“Ah, I’ve finally caught up to you.” Lily whirled around, her hand twitching towards her pocket and her wand. Remus was striding towards them, looking tired as ever. Harry caught sight of his uncle and ran full pelt. Remus crouched, catching Harry at a run and swinging him upwards. Harry settled on his uncle’s shoulders, hands playing with the ponytail holding his hair. 

“Still haven’t cut that off I see?” She smiled, nodding towards the ponytail. 

“Don’t disrespect the hair, Lily,” He smiled at her, and she noticed his grimace as Harry shifted. 

“Come on, Harry, down you get.” She reached for her son. 

Remus stepped away, feigning shock, “Absolutely not, outrageous, this is my godson!” Harry giggled. Lily looked at him pointedly, “I’m fine, really.” 

“So…” Lily said, watching her shoes crush the leaves on the ground as they began walking again. 

“I’ve not heard from them.” He answered, not having to hear the question. 

“It’s been three months… they’ve been gone too long.” Her arms curled around her stomach. 

Remus put a hand on her shoulder, “They’ll be okay, they always are.” 

“He shouldn’t be allowed to be gone for this long. He’s missing things. He doesn’t even know –” She stopped, not wanting to let the news slip until James got home. Remus didn’t comment, simply deciding to wrap his arm around her shoulder, steering her towards the house. 

“Dinner?” Remus asked as she removed Harry’s coat and boots, placing them beside the door. 

“Take-out? I’m not bothered to cook.” She told him. Remus nodded and moved through the hall towards the kitchen. 

“Mumma?” Harry asked quietly. She was surprised by his tone, a usually loud and excited child. 

“Yes?” 

“Where’s daddy?” Lily smiled sadly, pressing a kiss on her son’s forehead. 

Always a hard question, “He’ll be home soon, he’s off doing hero stuff.” 

The world had changed since Harry had been born. With Voldemort in hiding, and his follows scattered across the globe, it had been the job of the British Auror Team to track and capture as many as they could. James and Sirius had been frontline operatives since eighteen, now seniors in their roles and barely the age of twenty-five. Lily had been wrong about their swift return with another month passing too quickly. Her stomach continued to grow with every day and her adventures into the outside world, into the public’s eye, became a rarity. So, when she had agreed to assist Slughorn with a seventh-year class, her plan was to be in and out within a few hours and to hopefully not be seen by prying eyes. 

“Ah, Lily, I believe this one is yours.” Minerva McGonagall was striding towards her, Harry sitting against her side. Lily smiled; James would have lost it at the sight of Minerva holding Harry steady as he pulled at her hair bun, trying to get it loosen. 

“Harry! You were supposed to stay in the hospital wing while I was working.” She took him from her arms, placing him on his feet. She couldn’t carry him as much now, her back paining her. 

Minerva’s eyes softened, “James is still away I assume?” 

“Something like five months now, I’m going crazy.” She rested a hand on her stomach, forgetting herself as she thought of James. 

“Will he make it back in time?” Minerva examined. Lily looked down, following the professors eye-line, and removed her hand. Her coat slipped off the bump, hiding it once again. 

“Ah.” Lily said, “Well, he doesn’t exactly know.” 

“Oh, Lily,” 

“Found out a month after he left, and I was already eight or nine weeks along. There’s a good chance he won’t be home in time… if home at all...” Lily’s eyes filled with tears, spilling onto her cheeks. She hastily worked to wipe them away before Harry saw them. 

“Are they both away, James and Sirius?” She nodded. Lily expected the stern hand that had always braced her shoulder during school, but Minerva gathered her ex-student in her arms tightly. Lily and James had been some of her favourites, perhaps just below Sirius whom she had adored above all else; or so he had claimed. Lily fell into the embrace. 

“Remus knows though, yes?” Lily shook her head, “Lily Potter. You know that when you married one, you got them all. Remus will be there for you.” 

“We just hadn’t really discussed more after Harry, and he’s been off on these _trips_ so often lately… and if I told Remus then it would be real, and James really would be missing it.” Lily wiped her cheeks again. Harry had begun to wander down the hallway, his hands running over the stone walls in awe. 

“Tell Remus, Lily.” A bell rang and McGonagall apologised for rushing off. The corridor started to fill with students. Lily grabbed her son’s hand tightly, pulling him through a door that was pretending to be a wall and making her way to the entrance hall. 

“Want to go see Uncle Remus?” Lily asked of her son, who, of course, nodded enthusiastically. 

The first snowfall of the season arrived at the beginning of December, covering the grounds of Potter House and allowing the quiet blanket that was winter settle around the house’s occupants. Remus had declared himself a resident the moment Lily had told him about the pregnancy. She had written to Minerva, assuring her that she had been right; marry one Marauder and you do in fact get them all. Harry’s old crib had been removed from the attic and painted, a nursery enchanted so that clouds floated idly around the walls and a fresh set of baby clothes folded and put away. 

It was a Wednesday afternoon when they finally heard of the missing Marauders. Lily was sitting against the couch, lazily rolling a quaffle between her hands, as Remus released a snitch for Harry to catch. The fire that had burned low for a better part of an hour erupted in emerald flames, a face appearing. Remus caught Harry in his arms, holding him back, as Lily crawled towards the face. It was Sirius. 

“Lily. Thank god.” A beard shaped his face, “You should get to Mungo’s as soon as you can. They won’t… I’m not his next of kin… I can’t…” 

“Sirius. What’s happened?” Remus said, peering over Lily’s shoulder. 

“Moony…” Sirius trailed, “Get here now.” 

He disappeared from the flames. Remus was summoning their coats and pulling on shoes before Lily had moved off the ground. _Mungo’s… next of kin…_ She tried to make sense of his broken words. Frozen, she allowed Remus to pull her to her feet. 

“I’ll go through with Harry first…” He looked into her face, “He’ll be fine, Lily. Once he sees you… he’ll be fine.” 

She nodded, watching him disappear into the flames with her son. She threw a pinch of green powder in the fireplace, arms curled around her stomach, stepping in. 

Sirius was covered in dirt and blood. Whose it was, she couldn’t tell. Like they had been out in the sun too long, his robes were ripped and faded. As she got closer, she noticed blisters littering his arms and his exposed shoulder. 

“Sirius.” She said quietly, her voice shaking. 

He turned; his eyes sunken into his face, “Lily, I’m so sorry. I’m so… sorry.” His dirty cheeks were wet with tears and he held out his hand. She took James’ wand from him, turning it over in her hands. It was chipped and dirty. 

“What happened, Sirius?” Remus moved next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder tightly. 

“We were in Egypt. Tracking Bellatrix and her good-for-nothing husband, but they got wise of us. This was a few months back, don’t know what they were planning to do with us if Kinsley hadn’t come looking for us. But Remus…” Sirius lowered his voice, moving toward them, “We saw him. Voldemort, I mean. He looks different, and he’s gained a crazy amount of power, but he’s done something to himself. He looks… inhuman.” 

Remus moved to embrace Sirius; Lily still frozen at his side. 

“Sirius…” She said. 

“He was hurt. He was already hurt before Kingsley found us. They used him for torture practice. He… I don’t know, he…” Lily’s eyes stung with tears, “He’s in a bad way.” 

“But he’s alive?” She asked. 

“Barely… Listen, Lily, I’m sor—” Before he could finish, Lily had wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. She sobbed into his shoulder. 

“You kept him alive. You kept each other alive.” She whispered, “You came back, you bought him back.” 

She pulled back, wiping the tears from her cheeks. His eyes moved over her, examining the woman that was more family that any living blood relative he had. 

“Oh, shit,” He stepped back from her, his eyes widening at the sight of her stomach, “Lily, you got fat?!” 

The three friends stood silent. Sirius starred at Lily’s stomach, Remus glancing from one to the other, and Harry, still firmly pressed against Remus’ hip completely oblivious to the moment of realisation, was still stretching for his other godfather. Remus’ broke first, a chuckle escaping his lips. Sirius let out his bark laugh, placing a hand on her stomach, and Lily smiled at him. 

“I found out a few weeks after you both left. Who was to know this would be the one where you didn’t come home on time,” She covered Sirius’ hand with hers, “Can I see him?” 

He looked up at her, “They wouldn’t speak to me. Kept saying I wasn’t family.” Something flashed behind his eyes, and Lily made a note to deal with that later. 

“Mrs. Potter, I presume?” A healer interrupted. 

The three of them turned, “Yes. That’s me.” Lily said. 

“Your husband is awake,” the healer said, moving to give Lily room to walk by, “He’s asking for you.” The healer pointed her through some doors. She kissed Harry’s forehead, and Remus nodded his head when she looked to him, silently agreeing to fill Sirius in. She turned to Sirius, squeezing his hand. She followed the healer, leaving the boys behind as the doors swung shut. 

His room was dark, the only light coming from a few candle burning lamps. Most of his body was covered in bandages, his face sunken and eyed closed. His breathing was broken and shallow. The healer held the door, letting Lily into the room. 

James struggled to open his eyes, “Lily?” He called out, his voice scratched and broken. 

“James.” She leaned on the bed, taking his free hand in hers, “What happened? Sirius said something about Bellatrix and… Voldemort.” 

“I’m sorry.” He croaked out. 

“You’ve nothing to be sorry for.” She squeezed his hand. 

“I am. I’ve been gone months, I left you alone with Harry… oh god Harry…” Even with his eyes shut, Lily could see her husband struggling to keep the tears from falling onto his cheeks. 

“He’s fine. He’s perfect, just like he was when you left.” James curled his fingers around hers, moving his face towards her voice. Lily gulped, “James I have to tell you something, though. Something happened… and I’m not sure how to really tell you…” 

“Hang on.” He let go of her hand. James pushed himself up into a sitting position, his head hanging low as he rubbed his eyes. Slowly, James’ eyes opened, squinting to adjust to low light. As he raised his head, his eyes roamed her body, drinking her in. His hand instinctively reached out to rest on her stomach. 

“When?” He asked. 

“I found out a few weeks after you left.” She said, “Didn’t think you’d be gone so long… I didn’t even want to think about what I would have done if you hadn’t… if something had happened…” 

Their eyes met, her hand covering his on her stomach. 

“I missed it.” James whispered. 

“You didn’t. She’s still in there,” Lily moved a hand under his chin, “You got back just in time.” 

“She?” He said, “We’re having a girl?” 

“We’re having a girl.”


End file.
